


Simply having a wonderful Christmas time

by Estelle



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Christmas, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-29
Updated: 2019-01-29
Packaged: 2019-10-19 00:14:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17591147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estelle/pseuds/Estelle
Summary: Kaidan takes Shepard to a Christmas market on the Citadel.





	Simply having a wonderful Christmas time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jade_Sabre](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jade_Sabre/gifts).



> For Jade, for the Mass Effect Holiday Cheer Exchange. It turned out even fluffier than I intended, but I'm gald you like it anyway, and that I got your Emma right.

They had a bit of time on the Citadel, because the Normandy needed a few repairs and refuelling and check ups, so the crew had gotten shore leave, which everyone was understandably excited about.  
However, Emma Shepard still sat at her desk. There were reports to finish, and mission statements to sort through, and a million other things, and besides, she wouldn’t know what to do on leave anyway.  
She was just about to start a new report when her door opened and Kaidan stepped into the room.  
“Of course I’d find you here”, he stated, amusement clear in his voice.  
“I have reports to finish”, she replied, and he sighed.  
“Emma Jane, we have the first shore leave in ages, come have some fun!”  
He knew full well how it annoyed her to be called by her full name, and that her idea of fun was very limited, but when she looked into his beautiful brown eyes, her heart still skipped a beat, even after all this time, and she knew she couldn’t say no to him.  
“Okay. Where are we going?”  
Kaidan just grinned. “It’s a surprise. Just, dress warmly?”  
Emma frowned. She wasn’t fond of surprises, and dressing warmly seemed odd on the temperature regulated Citadel, but she trusted Kaidan, so she did as he asked.

Soon they were underway, and Emma had to admit that she was unfamiliar with the part of the Citadel that Kaidan was taking her, but then again the place was massive, so maybe that wasn’t all that strange.  
When they finally stepped out of an elevator, Emma stopped in her tracks and blinked. In front of them was a huge Christmas tree decorated beautifully in red and gold, little wooden huts were arranged around it displaying all sorts of foods and goods, everything was covered in softly glowing fairy lights and the smell of cinnamon and vanilla was floating through the air, and Emma was sure that she could make out a choir singing a Christmas song.  
Overwhelmed, she turned to Kaidan, who was smiling nervously. “I know it’s only November on Earth, but I discovered that they have it here all your round, to have a little Christmas feeling for everyone, and I thought it would be nice for us, and uh romantic?”  
Emma’s heart warmed at Kaidan still stumbling over words like that and she smiled. She couldn’t remember ever being to a Christmas market, but she thought that with Kaidan at her side, she might like it.  
So she nodded, and Kaidan’s smile brightened and he took her hand, which in turn made her blush. She still wasn’t used to open displays of affection, or even just to actually wanting such a thing.  
Together, they wandered through the market, looking at the things on display, anything traditionally Christmas-y, from wooden toys to candles and tree ornaments.   
Just as they were looking at little glass angels, it softly started snowing and Emma looked up in surprise.  
Kaidan grinned. “They adjusted the temperature to make it feel more like Christmas.”  
“It’s… nice”, Emma decided, now really glad that he had told her to wear warm clothes.  
“Reminds me of home”, he stated softly, and Emma squeezed his hand. He didn’t talk about it often, and she was glad for every time that he did, even though she never quite knew how to react. From the way he squeezed her hand back and smiled at her, she figured that she had done the right thing though.  
“Okay, we need drinks”, Kaidan said then, and let go of her hand to walk to the stall selling all sorts of holiday drinks.  
Emma wasn’t so sure about that, and just hoped he wouldn’t get her anything too exotic while she waited at the bar tables they had in front of the hut.  
When he got back and placed a steaming mug in front of her, she sceptically sniffed at it, and Kaidan laughed a little. “Don’t worry, it’s just hot chocolate. I was tempted to get you the peppermint one, but I wouldn’t want to scare you off”, he teased, and Emma laughed too. It was amazing how well he knew her.  
“Though you can try my mulled wine if you want”, he offered then and she raised her eyebrows.  
“I… maybe next time?”, she answered uncertainly, and Kaidan smiled and took a sip from his mug.  
“Sure. It’s really good though.”  
Emma tried her own drink and nodded. The hot chocolate was creamy and sweet, and just the right temperature, and she found herself thinking that maybe, just maybe, in a few years, she could try a different flavour.  
After finishing their drinks, they walked over to the little stage, where a band had set up and was performing rock versions of Christmas songs.  
Kaidan wrapped his arm around her waist and leaned in to kiss her temple. “Merry Christmas, Emma!”, he whispered and she smiled.  
She was really glad that he had dragged her away from work, and from the look in his eyes she was certain that he knew how she felt.  
“Merry Christmas, Kaidan. Thank you for doing this!”, she whispered back, and leaned her head on his shoulder, perfectly content for the moment.


End file.
